![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Smileys & The R32
Jun. 24th, 2005 11:34 pmI think I am getting too 'into' Japanese Smileys... they are slowly creeping more and more into my internet lexicon, and it's bothering me less and less. (o_O)
Jon got to Colorado today and bought the new car! He left Denver at about 7:30 and is sleeping somewhere near the middle of Nebraska tonight. He is VERY happy about this car. He has owned more cars in the last 10-15 years than most people will own in their lives, but I kind of think he might keep this one for a while longer than most that he's had. The only car he kept longer than 2 years was the Zebra Car, and that's just because it was, well, the Zebra Car! And for over a year, he did not even have posession of it most of the time. His friend was using it, while Jon still held the title. (It has since been sold to said friend, as was mentioned in a previous post here.)
Wow, what a worthless entry. I am so pathetic. I ACCIDENTALLY stayed at work until 5:30 tonight, and now I am super tired but not in bed because I am too busy updating my LiveJournal. Sheesh.
OK, I'm going to bed. (-_-)zzzz
Jon got to Colorado today and bought the new car! He left Denver at about 7:30 and is sleeping somewhere near the middle of Nebraska tonight. He is VERY happy about this car. He has owned more cars in the last 10-15 years than most people will own in their lives, but I kind of think he might keep this one for a while longer than most that he's had. The only car he kept longer than 2 years was the Zebra Car, and that's just because it was, well, the Zebra Car! And for over a year, he did not even have posession of it most of the time. His friend was using it, while Jon still held the title. (It has since been sold to said friend, as was mentioned in a previous post here.)
Wow, what a worthless entry. I am so pathetic. I ACCIDENTALLY stayed at work until 5:30 tonight, and now I am super tired but not in bed because I am too busy updating my LiveJournal. Sheesh.
OK, I'm going to bed. (-_-)zzzz
Heh - Jon is in Lincoln, Nebraska right now. He is on his way to a suburb of Denver, Colorado to buy a new car. This all came up 2 days ago.
He has been looking to buy an R32 for several years now. The GTI that he has now was kind of a "good enough" version that was affordable and a lot nicer than the Metro, and more efficient than the Expedition. But he has been watching prices of R32s all the time, and just this weekend he was getting interested in one in Florida that had a supercharger and all this other racer-boy crap added on. The price was pretty decent, but there were a lot of weird things about it that didn't feel right.... the dude selling it didn't have the title - said he had never transferred it over from the guy HE bought it from... weird. Other stuff like that. I don't know. I just got a really bad feeling about it, and what if Jon went all the way down there only to find a lemon?? Ugh.
So then he found one in Illinois that looked like kind of an ok deal, but again, it just didn't feel quite right. And there really wasn't a clear answer between the two of them. The only sure thing was that they both looked like better deals than what he would get here in the Cities. But stilll... :-/
So I prayed. Not to a "god" or anything like that, but I just kind of prayed that the events of the next few days would play out in such a way that Jon would not end up making a decision he was not SURE about, and I prayed that if he really was going to buy an R32, he would find a deal that would feel RIGHT and SURE.
The next morning, Jon told me he had found "the one" in Colorado. The price was great, it didn't have any unneccessary mods that would void any warranty, it only had 5,000 miles on it (that's right, FIVE THOUSAND), and the guy selling it offered $13.1K on a trade in for his GTI! This is unheard of. Jon's friend who works at a dealership here in the Cities said the most he could possibly give Jon was $10K. The MOST.The guy selling the R32 is a wholesaler, and is selling the car for a friend of his who is a slightly older, rather wealthy guy who just decided he didn't want it after all. So the thing is about as close to brand new as you can get, still has TONS of warranty coverage, is selling for peanuts compared to anywhere else we've seen (I wish I could remember what he said the price is. $29K or something)... and he is getting a better trade-in value than he could have ever hoped for!
So anyway, Jon will be leaving Lincoln bright and early tomorrow morning, arriving in Englewood sometime in the afternoon, and buying the car. (The seller also offered to pay for a night's hotel stay and at least one tank of gas for the drive back! Holy crap.) Looking at this all in writing, it is starting to sound almost TOO good to be true. I hope there are no problems. Of course, with the way I let my worrying get out of hand sometimes, I can't really even afford to start down that path of thoughts right now. (Jon knows how I worry, and he called once from Des Moines, and then again when he had entered Nebraska. And then he said Hi online when he got into his hotel with free wireless.)
ANYWAY, I am up past my bedtime yet AGAIN, and I have to have lunch with a bunch of the NBU managers tomorrow, so I don't want to be too groggy and tired. *yawn* (-o-)
He has been looking to buy an R32 for several years now. The GTI that he has now was kind of a "good enough" version that was affordable and a lot nicer than the Metro, and more efficient than the Expedition. But he has been watching prices of R32s all the time, and just this weekend he was getting interested in one in Florida that had a supercharger and all this other racer-boy crap added on. The price was pretty decent, but there were a lot of weird things about it that didn't feel right.... the dude selling it didn't have the title - said he had never transferred it over from the guy HE bought it from... weird. Other stuff like that. I don't know. I just got a really bad feeling about it, and what if Jon went all the way down there only to find a lemon?? Ugh.
So then he found one in Illinois that looked like kind of an ok deal, but again, it just didn't feel quite right. And there really wasn't a clear answer between the two of them. The only sure thing was that they both looked like better deals than what he would get here in the Cities. But stilll... :-/
So I prayed. Not to a "god" or anything like that, but I just kind of prayed that the events of the next few days would play out in such a way that Jon would not end up making a decision he was not SURE about, and I prayed that if he really was going to buy an R32, he would find a deal that would feel RIGHT and SURE.
The next morning, Jon told me he had found "the one" in Colorado. The price was great, it didn't have any unneccessary mods that would void any warranty, it only had 5,000 miles on it (that's right, FIVE THOUSAND), and the guy selling it offered $13.1K on a trade in for his GTI! This is unheard of. Jon's friend who works at a dealership here in the Cities said the most he could possibly give Jon was $10K. The MOST.The guy selling the R32 is a wholesaler, and is selling the car for a friend of his who is a slightly older, rather wealthy guy who just decided he didn't want it after all. So the thing is about as close to brand new as you can get, still has TONS of warranty coverage, is selling for peanuts compared to anywhere else we've seen (I wish I could remember what he said the price is. $29K or something)... and he is getting a better trade-in value than he could have ever hoped for!
So anyway, Jon will be leaving Lincoln bright and early tomorrow morning, arriving in Englewood sometime in the afternoon, and buying the car. (The seller also offered to pay for a night's hotel stay and at least one tank of gas for the drive back! Holy crap.) Looking at this all in writing, it is starting to sound almost TOO good to be true. I hope there are no problems. Of course, with the way I let my worrying get out of hand sometimes, I can't really even afford to start down that path of thoughts right now. (Jon knows how I worry, and he called once from Des Moines, and then again when he had entered Nebraska. And then he said Hi online when he got into his hotel with free wireless.)
ANYWAY, I am up past my bedtime yet AGAIN, and I have to have lunch with a bunch of the NBU managers tomorrow, so I don't want to be too groggy and tired. *yawn* (-o-)
Let the supplying begin!!
Jun. 19th, 2005 11:55 amToday marks the day I begin buying and planning supplies I will need for Burning Man. On Amazon, I just purchased a new Camelbak, a headlamp, a Headlight/Taillight set for my bike, and also a lift-off front basket and a bell for my bike. I guess buying those poi last night kind of got me started.
Talked to Jon this morning about getting renovation plans for the shade structure together. This year we will be re-using the cover made of billboards donated by Mike L (although we have to re-sew the panels together in some places), and creating an all-new frame using these great Starplate Connectors to bracket together 2x4's (or whatever size Jon decides on.) Additionally, it sounds like we are maybe going to have a shower in our camp this year, and I have gotten some pretty good plans for a grey water evaporation pond, so we will have to workshop that at the same time, so we can get everything at once from Home Depot. (Yeah, like that's possible. It's NEVER just one trip!)
About the Camelbak - I am kind of stoked about that particular purchase. It is a 1.5 liter one, and it was a darn good deal at $30. I almost went for a small "fanny-pack" style one that was $16, but I think I made a good choice with the backpack-style one. I do have a small concern about it, in that when I wear backpacks in general out in really hot summer heat, I get a nasty sweaty back... but this might also be nice if I'm filling it with ice water... and LOTS of people SWEAR by them for the playa.
Another thing I'm going to just put here so I don't forget is VINEGAR and BURT'S BEES FARMER'S FRIEND HAND SALVE for the feet. Last year that salve was SUPER popular in our camp, we would wash our feet, smear on a slathering of salve, and then put on nice clean socks (especially before bed)... and someone ended up nabbing my can of it by the time we got back! Oh well. This year, I would like to go barefoot / sandalfoot a little more, and I want to be sure we have a good vinegar/water spray for foot care on the alkaline playa.
Talked to Jon this morning about getting renovation plans for the shade structure together. This year we will be re-using the cover made of billboards donated by Mike L (although we have to re-sew the panels together in some places), and creating an all-new frame using these great Starplate Connectors to bracket together 2x4's (or whatever size Jon decides on.) Additionally, it sounds like we are maybe going to have a shower in our camp this year, and I have gotten some pretty good plans for a grey water evaporation pond, so we will have to workshop that at the same time, so we can get everything at once from Home Depot. (Yeah, like that's possible. It's NEVER just one trip!)
About the Camelbak - I am kind of stoked about that particular purchase. It is a 1.5 liter one, and it was a darn good deal at $30. I almost went for a small "fanny-pack" style one that was $16, but I think I made a good choice with the backpack-style one. I do have a small concern about it, in that when I wear backpacks in general out in really hot summer heat, I get a nasty sweaty back... but this might also be nice if I'm filling it with ice water... and LOTS of people SWEAR by them for the playa.
Another thing I'm going to just put here so I don't forget is VINEGAR and BURT'S BEES FARMER'S FRIEND HAND SALVE for the feet. Last year that salve was SUPER popular in our camp, we would wash our feet, smear on a slathering of salve, and then put on nice clean socks (especially before bed)... and someone ended up nabbing my can of it by the time we got back! Oh well. This year, I would like to go barefoot / sandalfoot a little more, and I want to be sure we have a good vinegar/water spray for foot care on the alkaline playa.
OK, today the plan is this: Jon is going to have to re-do the trim on the poker table he is building for Jeff. I know he needs a new set of rope lights, because one of the lights is out in the string he is using, but that's because he was using the string from his old original table and had cut them wrong, causing a bunch to go out where they shouldn't have. That's ok though. It's only $8. Also - and I'm not sure about this - but I think he might have to go to Home Depot or the fabric store to fix something else on the table... so that might not happen until later today. Damn Sunday later opening times.
After he finishes that up, we are going to the Japanese Garden in Como Park. I don't know what time we are going, or how long we are going to spend there, but it should be nice. My only concern is that he slows down and just enjoys it. Sometimes he has a tendency to rush through things like this and then I end up getting dragged along at his pace, and I miss things that I wanted to admire more closely. We shall see...
Then, at 6:30, the Twin Cities Chamber Orchestra is playing at the little amphitheater in Central Park here in Roseville. I would really like to go, and it didn't sound like Jon was against it, so maybe he will come with me... It's not like it would be a big problem if he gets bored. He lives like across the street from Central Park, and I am a mile down the road from his house.
Central Park is really pretty. Not Como Park pretty, but it has its own special charm when you go biking or walking through its trails. And it always smells good to me when I go biking over there. :)
After he finishes that up, we are going to the Japanese Garden in Como Park. I don't know what time we are going, or how long we are going to spend there, but it should be nice. My only concern is that he slows down and just enjoys it. Sometimes he has a tendency to rush through things like this and then I end up getting dragged along at his pace, and I miss things that I wanted to admire more closely. We shall see...
Then, at 6:30, the Twin Cities Chamber Orchestra is playing at the little amphitheater in Central Park here in Roseville. I would really like to go, and it didn't sound like Jon was against it, so maybe he will come with me... It's not like it would be a big problem if he gets bored. He lives like across the street from Central Park, and I am a mile down the road from his house.
Central Park is really pretty. Not Como Park pretty, but it has its own special charm when you go biking or walking through its trails. And it always smells good to me when I go biking over there. :)
Oh boy - Poi!
Jun. 18th, 2005 11:10 pmI just ordered a pair of beginner's poi. I had been playing around with spinning long socks that had smaller socks balled up inside the ends (DON'T LAUGH!), and it's really not that hard, even for a clumsy girl like me! So I did some poking around on Home of Poi, and found some not-too-expensive but still decent cloth ones so I can start trying to get more serious about this. I went with a pair that have tails, so I can keep better track of where I am twisting my hands in the wrong directions or making mistakes, and they will also look more neat when I am doing it right!
For those of you who are wondering, the poi I am referring to is not the gooey purple starchy Hawaiian food made from smashed taro root. "Poi" is also the Maori (natives of New Zealand) word for "ball (on a cord)." They are twirled and spun in the hands, often lit on fire for an amazing performance.
Last year at Burning Man, I was very impressed with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nicotinequeen's poi spinning (she even used fire!) I told her that I wished I could learn how to do it, but that I felt I was too clumsy and uncoordinated. She told me that anyone could do it, that she had only started doing it AFTER the previous year's Burning Man, and that it could actually help build coordination. I always remembered that, and even looked at the Home of Poi website a few times since then, but I never really bothered trying it with a beginner's set or even socks like I am doing right now. However, now that I have actually tried a few basic moves, I am seeing just how quickly I am able to learn, and how this could really help me get in better touch with my body and become at least a little more coordinated. (Plus, it's actually a nice little cardio workout! I never realized how it can get your heart pumping!)
So today I am being brave, I am doing something new and physically challenging, which is typically outside my comfort level. And right after I ordered the poi, I noticed that they are being shipped out of New Zealand! This might take a few weeks.... ;)
For those of you who are wondering, the poi I am referring to is not the gooey purple starchy Hawaiian food made from smashed taro root. "Poi" is also the Maori (natives of New Zealand) word for "ball (on a cord)." They are twirled and spun in the hands, often lit on fire for an amazing performance.
Last year at Burning Man, I was very impressed with
nicotinequeen's poi spinning (she even used fire!) I told her that I wished I could learn how to do it, but that I felt I was too clumsy and uncoordinated. She told me that anyone could do it, that she had only started doing it AFTER the previous year's Burning Man, and that it could actually help build coordination. I always remembered that, and even looked at the Home of Poi website a few times since then, but I never really bothered trying it with a beginner's set or even socks like I am doing right now. However, now that I have actually tried a few basic moves, I am seeing just how quickly I am able to learn, and how this could really help me get in better touch with my body and become at least a little more coordinated. (Plus, it's actually a nice little cardio workout! I never realized how it can get your heart pumping!)So today I am being brave, I am doing something new and physically challenging, which is typically outside my comfort level. And right after I ordered the poi, I noticed that they are being shipped out of New Zealand! This might take a few weeks.... ;)
Memorial Day Trip
May. 1st, 2005 01:31 pmLast year, for Memorial Day weekend, Jon and I went to Wisconsin Dells to play at the Kalahari Resort and Indoor Water Park, and we also drove to the House on the Rock, which is WAY neater than I can describe. It was a really fun time. We also played miniature golf somewhere in there that weekend.
This year, we're not sure what to do, but we have talked about taking a weekend jaunt out to New York City. Who does THAT?? No one that I know of, but we just might try and pull it off. I think we could, but it might take an extra day, which would cost us, since we have both thrown all our Vacation days into Burning Man later this summer. I could cheat and use a sick day, but Jon's work recently switched over to a PTO system, which means vacation days and sick days are taken out of the same pool, so he would actually lose a paid vacation day that could have been used for Burning Man.
Anyway, I think it would be a fun adventure to take a whirlwind weekend trip out to The City, but I'm not sure if we are going to do it or not. If we do, I'll post more about it here in one month. (Because Memorial Day is May 30th.)
This year, we're not sure what to do, but we have talked about taking a weekend jaunt out to New York City. Who does THAT?? No one that I know of, but we just might try and pull it off. I think we could, but it might take an extra day, which would cost us, since we have both thrown all our Vacation days into Burning Man later this summer. I could cheat and use a sick day, but Jon's work recently switched over to a PTO system, which means vacation days and sick days are taken out of the same pool, so he would actually lose a paid vacation day that could have been used for Burning Man.
Anyway, I think it would be a fun adventure to take a whirlwind weekend trip out to The City, but I'm not sure if we are going to do it or not. If we do, I'll post more about it here in one month. (Because Memorial Day is May 30th.)
Terrorizing the Heartland Tour
Mar. 15th, 2005 07:26 pmFrom a chat with my friend Darren this evening (content unaltered):
Darren says: hey can you think of any wacky songs I can play if I do the terrorizing the heartland tour?
Amber says: what?
Darren says: Im thinking about crashing a bunch of small town summer festivals "turky days" or potato days and playing some really raucus music and have some anonymous person in the audience gettint crows reaction like "man their terrible"and so on. the recording is the finnished "product" not the show I just want to make a bunch of farmers curse the show and tape their reaction.
Amber says: muh
Darren says: you know like interveiw the bystanders and ask wht they think . I want it to be smelly on purpose
